


Like a Baby, Next to You

by stfustucky (iwillpaintasongforlou)



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Domestic Bliss, M/M, Saturday Morning Cartoons, Slice of Life, pure fluff, weighted blankets
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-15
Updated: 2020-06-15
Packaged: 2021-03-03 23:14:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,347
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24743668
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iwillpaintasongforlou/pseuds/stfustucky
Summary: Steve and Bucky share a quiet Saturday morning together. Nothing hurts and everything is beautiful.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers
Comments: 9
Kudos: 80





	Like a Baby, Next to You

**Author's Note:**

> Dragged out from some dusty corner of my google drive, and posted here for your enjoyment. xoxo

Steve knew before he even opened his eyes Saturday morning that it was going to be a beautiful day.

He didn’t need to open them just yet. His other senses told him plenty, their information filtering in through the haze of sleep to fill in the blanks of what Steve missed while he was sleeping. Before he was even fully awake, his brain was already forming a map of the apartment and the scene of perfection within it.

There was the heavy, dull relaxation of his limbs telling him that he’d gotten quality rest. The smell of coffee brewing-- that dark roast kind that always made Steve give an involuntary satisfied purr after that first sip. He could hear the TV playing, very faintly, so as not to wake him. The shuffle of sock-clad feet against hardwood floors, the faint tinkle of silverware rustling together and the tap of a drawer closing in the kitchen.

A smile was already curling Steve’s lips as he slowly stretched his limbs to let the muscles do their groaning and the joints their popping and the fingers and toes their little spasms as blood flowed into all the little veins once more. One hand slid across the sheets to the other side of the bed and found the soft blue cotton beside him still faintly warm. It only made Steve smile more. Bucky had gotten good sleep last night too, then, had only just slipped from their shared bed a little while ago. Steve wasn’t surprised that the action hadn’t woken him; Bucky was a master at moving undetected when he wanted to. If he strained his memory, Steve thought he might half-remember the ghost of a kiss to his temple a few dreams ago, but then it was gone.

Steve did open his eyes then, blinking and rubbing the sleep from his vision as a yawn overcame him and made his body flex and stretch beneath the comforter once more. He curled his fingers around the minky material and pulled it with him as he finally sat up and let his legs swing around to settle his feet on the floor, settling the blanket around his shoulders like a shawl at the same time.

It was heavy enough that most humans wouldn’t have been able to move it like that, an anxiety-reducing weighted blanket that had been custom made by Tony to an exorbitant weight that was cozy enough to settle down even a couple of war-torn supersoldiers. It was quite literally worth its weight in gold in this home. The mysterious, magically relaxing beads sewn inside (were they made from actual gold? It was Tony, so it was possible) sounded like the muted trickle of a tiny waterfall as they shifted, the blanket rearranging as Steve stood and shuffled to the bedroom door to open it.

The first thing he saw was Bucky, cross-legged on his favorite spot on the couch, a bowl of cereal resting on one knee. He was dressed in sweatpants and Steve’s favorite hoodie, the one with the fleece inside that made it so luxuriously soft that Bucky couldn’t keep his hands off it and Steve couldn’t bear to take it back from him. Bucky’s metal hand was fiddling with the remote, flipping through channels, while his flesh fingers brushed distractedly at a strand of long dark hair that sleep had coaxed from the bun he’d put it in, tucking the offending tendril behind his ear.

Then Bucky looked up at Steve, and a little bubble of nearly unbearable happiness swelled in Steve’s chest, and he thought,  _ yeah, it’s going to be a gorgeous day. _

“Hey, good-lookin,” Bucky said quietly, a soft smile turning up the corner of his mouth. His voice cracked a little. There had been no need to use his voice yet this morning, with Steve still wrapped in slumber. “Sleep well?”

“Like a baby, next to you,” Steve replied, his own voice rough with sleep, just as he always did. It was almost always true. The restlessness and the nightmares were never as bad, now that Bucky was home. How important could the trials and tribulations of the world be, when Bucky was  _ alive, _ and safe, and right there in his arms?

Steve made his way over to the couch, blanket trailing from around his shoulders, and leaned in for a kiss. Bucky tilted his face up to Steve, pursing his lips ever so slightly in invitation and expectation, and damn if it didn’t make Steve feel like he’d gotten away with something, to see Bucky loving him back. A prize Steve could never have earned, and one he’d topple nations to never give up.

He probably had morning breath, but it didn’t stop him from kissing Bucky gently. It was no heat, all reverence and comfort and more of that warm, faint, firecracker joy in Steve’s chest. Bucky tasted like the too-sweet marshmallows in that cereal he loved, his lips cool from the milk fresh from the fridge. He tasted like home.

“What do you feel like watching today?” Bucky asked him as Steve settled into the space next to Bucky on the couch, curled up on his side with his head in Bucky’s lap. He could feel the coolness of Bucky’s clothes, not having been on Bucky’s body long enough to absorb his body heat, soothing and comfortable against Steve’s cheek.

“Mmm,” he murmured noncommittally. He couldn’t even see the TV properly from this vantage point. Bucky’s knee was in the way, not that it mattered. Steve’s eyes weren’t even open anyways, still content to just rest here and enjoy the fact that he was close enough to hear Bucky’s heartbeat.

“There’s coffee in the pot.”

“Okay.” Steve didn’t budge.

“I picked up some more eggs yesterday too, if you wanna make your scramble.”

“Thanks, baby.” Steve stayed where he was.

“Also, the ravenous horde of zombies slowly destroying Brooklyn will be here in about ten minutes,” Bucky tried, voice soft and teasing, his right hand coming to card through Steve’s short hair. “They’re finishing up at the orphanage now.”

“Sounds good,” Steve answered Bucky languidly, smiling into Bucky’s thigh. It was a good thing Bucky was joking. Steve wasn’t sure even a real zombie invasion would convince him to give up this moment.  _ Sorry, orphans. _

Bucky gave up trying to coax words out of Steve with a little laugh, continuing to run his fingertips through Steve’s hair and trail them across cheekbones and jaw and lips and the arch of Steve’s nose as he resumed surfing through menus. Finally he settled on something-- the cartoon about the school kids with the magical bus who learn about science, Steve dimly realized as he heard the theme song start to play.

The gentle dance of Bucky’s miniscule touches settled too, his hand coming to rest on Steve’s chest, right over that achingly content place where Steve’s heart kept its steady time.  _ Ba-bum. Ba-bum. Bu-cky. Bu-cky. Bu-cky. _

Steve turned his head and shifted his shoulders slightly so he could look up at Bucky, finding those warm eyes with his own, delighting as always in the spark of recognition that had been missing once upon a time but now had a permanent home in Bucky’s gaze once again. That, in itself, was enough. Everything else in the world was just background noise, as long as Steve had that.

“I love you,” Steve said simply.

Bucky’s eyes crinkled as his smile spread, and he bent down to kiss Steve this time. The angle was all wrong, and Bucky half-missed his mouth, and there was a jerk and a clatter halfway through as Bucky’s twisting upset the cereal on his knee and he had to catch the bowl with his metal hand before it could slide off and hit the floor, and yeah, Steve definitely still had morning breath. It was a perfect kiss.

“I love you, too,” Bucky answered as he settled back against the cushions, his fingers twining together with Steve’s over his chest. 

It was going to be a beautiful day.


End file.
